This rather intriguing headline was showing up in the MSM as part of the Valentine’s Day coverage.
It turns out that these articles were reviewing a new book, The Science Of Kissing, What Our Lips Are Telling Us by Sheril Kirshenbaum.
The book is a multidisciplinary study of kissing.. mainly kissing by humans it seems. Humans may be unique in the animal kingdom but we are not unique because we kiss. We do kiss a lot.. More then 90% of cultures have kissing in their affection repertoire.
As headlines go they may have got me to read the articles but they were not descriptive of the thrust of the book. The book is engaged in the aspect of why men and women kiss rather than how they kiss. I guess, the “why” is a more interesting question.
In an interview on heatland.time.com, the author summarizes:
““Women put a lot of weight into the act of kissing itself” says Kirshenbaum. For them, it’s “natures ultimate litmus test” – a way to probe the potential of a future partner. And for men? Well, I think we all know what men want. “
Hummm .. did we need all that research and a book to end up in the same places as we started?
In the interest of full disclosure, I have not yet read the book but it is on order. I’ll let you know what lies between those covers!
